New Delhi: The University Grants Commission (UGC) on Tuesday has granted autonomy to sixty Higher Education Institutions for maintaining high academic standards. The list includes Jawaharlal Nehru University, Aligarh Muslim University, Banaras Hindu University, University of Hyderabad and the English and Foreign Languages University. The move is being considered as ‘Historic’.

Minister of Human Resource Development, Prakash Javadekar told reporters in Delhi that the UGC move will enable the selected institutes to decide their admission procedure, fee structure and curriculum, among others. Javadekar further explained that these universities will remain within the ambit of UGC but will have the freedom to start new courses, off-campus centres, skill development courses, research parks and any other new academic programs.

Five central universities, 21 state universities, 24 deemed universities, and two private universities have been given the autonomous status, the minister said.

The selected Universities will also have the freedom to hire foreign faculty, enrol foreign students, give incentive based emoluments to the faculty, enter into academic collaborations and run open distance learning programmes.

“And for all of this, they will not have to come to the regulator again and again for seeking permission because they have maintained quality and achieved a benchmark of 3.26 and above NAAC (National Accreditation and Assessment Council) ranking,” Javadekar added.

Among all the state universities that are given autonomy are Jadavpur University, Andhra University, Algappa University, National University of Law, Utkal University, Kurukshetra University, to name a few.